John A. Beyer, CLU
HR Advisor July 2009
The Monthly Newsletter from your HR Support Center
Welcome
With six months already behind us this calendar year, we hope your business has been productive and will continue to push
forward to finish the year off strong!
HR Alerts
Federal Minimum Wage Rate Increase.
Effective July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage rate will increase from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour.
E-Verify Federal Contractor Rule Delay.
For the fourth time, the effective date requiring certain federal contractors and subcontractors to use the federal government's
E-Verify program has been delayed to become effective on September 8, 2009.
Age Bias Decision Favoring Employers.
On June 18, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court placed a greater burden on workers to prove their claims of being targets of
workplace discrimination due to age.

Lay Off Using Layoffs to Manage Poor Performing Employees
With many employers seeing the business need to layoff employees during the past
several months, it may be tempting for a manager to use it as a way to avoid
confronting problem employees. When conducting a formal layoff, however, employers
would need to follow certain guidelines and be aware of specific state and federal laws.
In general, employers are often better off taking the more appropriately accountable
route of employment termination for cause using progressive discipline.
In turn, keep the following three points in mind:
em return to work with increased motivation and, in turn,the Position. A layoff involves eliminating positions and not
1. Eliminate that companies show a higher rate of productivity.
people. Determine your business-essential positions, and your supporting
documentation should demonstrate that a position to be eliminated is due to
decreased work demands and / or financial reasons. If you want to get rid of a
poor performing employee, then getting rid of that job position would likely be
not in your best interest since the work still needs to be done.
2. Select the Worker. For the eliminated position in question, identify all
employees with similar job titles and roles. After review the type of the work
that still needs to be done, figure out which of the employees are the lesser
qualified. After assessing the employees’ overall work experience, knowledge,
skills, and abilities, pick the least qualified individual. If that individual happens
to be the poor performing employee you initially had in mind, then you now
would have a more solid basis to end the employment relationship with a
layoff.
3. Don’t Fill the Position. If an employer has a legitimate business reason to
eliminate a job position, then there should be no need to bring back that
position in the near future. Otherwise, the alleged layoff may be viewed as a
veiled termination for cause which can cast questions on the company's true
intentions and general integrity if ever challenged. The suggested rule of
thumb is to not reopen the position for about a year.
In the bigger picture, if you are in Management, part of your direct responsibility is to
e to comment on their work thus far, their role in the business, and any
effectively manage employee confrontations. Addressing employee performance
eedback to see how you can help the employee further develop as well as what specific
problems through corrective action holds employees accountable for their behaviors
and their outcomes. You can leverage various strategies to motivate employees to
ul.
positively change their performance levels as well as to establish proof of your
company’s good faith efforts to help all employees improve.
Question & Answer with the HR Pros: Employee Pay
Q. How do I know whether or not I should pay employees for certain company
meetings and events?
A. The rule of thumb is that if a company gathering or event meets all of the following
criteria, then the company is not liable to pay the employees who attend:
67%
c Attendance is outside of the employee's regular working hours;
AAttendance is voluntary;
AThe course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the employee's job;
and
a The employee does not perform any productive work during the session.
% of the respondents who stole company data used the stolen information to leverage a new job. (Source: Ponemon Institu
Non-Compete Considerations
All employees will discover and learn aspects about their jobs and about your company
that may become a particularly sensitive issue when an employee leaves the company.
While depending on state laws, employers can add a certain amount of protection

through the use of properly written non-compete agreements.
Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved - Terms and Legal ConditionsYou are receiving this newsletter as a
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vent Legal Disclaimer: This message does not and is not intended to containbusiness in the contents do not constitute the However, anprovision of legal
a former apprentice from opening up his or her own legal advice, and its same neighborhood. practice of law or employer may rest
counsel. The sender cannot be held legally accountable for actions related to its receipt.
Methods have to change. Focus has to change. Values have to change. The sum total of those changes is transformation."
In determining whether or not entering a non-compete arrangement makes sense for your business, the agree
-Andrew Grove
the business.
eyond what is reasonable to protect your business interests. (Example: If your CPA firm focuses on clients in Arizona, then res
he former’s employee’s service or skill.
mer employee receives something in return by signing such an agreement (i.e. monetary compensation).
J u l y 4 Independence Day
Tool of the Month: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Guide
e for Federal Minimum Wage Increase to $7.25 per Hour
pated for26 Parents’ Day
July the rest of the year and beyond. For a refresher, you now can review a variety of helpful information in the HR Support C
E EThe Ledbetter Case,
E EThe Ledbetter Act, and
E EThe Recommended Actions.
In the HR Support Center website under the Essentials tab section, simply search for the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay
ency Marketing Services
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